Amid Protests, Sanjay Raut Admits Uddhav Thackeray Suggested Refinery Site To PM

More than 100 women were among the protesters who tried to block a road in Barsu and Solgaon areas of the district, around 400km from Mumbai, by lying on the ground to stop government vehicles from entering the proposed site of the refinery.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut admitted today that Uddhav Thackeray, as the Chief Minister of Maharashtra, had suggested the site at Barsu in coastal Ratnagiri district for a refinery project, but if locals oppose it then his party will back them.

Talking to reporters, Mr Raut hit back at Industries minister Uday Samant and said instead of "flaunting" the letter written by Uddhav Thackeray to Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggesting Barsu as an alternative site, he should visit the site and talk to protesters.

Mr Samant on Tuesday alleged "misunderstandings" were being deliberately created about the project for political mileage and slammed the "politics of double standards", an apparent jibe at Uddhav Thackeray and his MLA-son Aaditya Thackeray, who handled the environment portfolio in the previous Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government (November 2019 to June 2022).

"Nanar (site) was opposed by locals and then he (Thackeray) suggested that Barsu could be an alternative place. It is scrubland and that is right. But if locals oppose it, then Shiv Sena (UBT) will not back the project. This is our political stand," Mr Raut said.